The average household in the UK owns 57 items of home textiles, but just over a fifth (21%) have not been used in the last year.
- This adds up to an estimated 331 million dormant homeware items across the nation which have the potential to be used, re-used or recycled.
- The findings are from a new WRAP report, Citizen Insights: Estimating the Longevity of Home Textiles in the UK.
The Research: In September last, WRAP commissioned an online consumer research study into the current attitudes and behaviours of UK citizens in relation to home textiles.
- The report also highlights key opportunities for brands and retailers to extend the life of their products through better design decisions and by helping consumers care for their items.
- It also encourages shoppers to maximise on this year’s ‘spring clean’ by using the items they already have, passing them on to be reused, or where items have no resale value, sending them to be recycled.
The Major Findings:
- UK citizens most frequently cite price as a key purchase influence when acquiring home textiles. This is followed by the quality of the fabric, the product specification, ease of cleaning and maintenance, design/style, and product durability. Other factors—including the sustainability of the materials—are much weaker purchase influences.
- Durability varies as a purchase influence. It is a strong influence for items like rugs, fabric curtains/blinds, bathroom towels and bathroom sheets, but less influential for cushion covers and only a weak purchase influence for pillows.
- The vast majority (89%) of home textiles are acquired brand new. By contrast, the second hand/vintage market is a small acquisition route, accounting for one in twenty-five (4%) items.
- Close to two in three (65%) of the items were acquired in store and 35% online. This is similar to the share of clothing purchases (69% in store; 31% online).
- Cleaning and drying methods vary considerably across the home textiles.
- Domestic washing machines are prominent for many home textiles including bedsheets, bathroom towels and duvet covers (more than 90% of UK citizens report regularly washing these in a washing machine at home).
- Wash frequency varies considerably across the different home textile items. Fabric curtains/blinds are the item with the lowest average wash frequency (0.8 washes per month), followed by rugs (1.2) and pillows (1.3). Average wash frequency is highest for bathroom towels (6.0 washes per month), followed by bed sheets (4.2)
- Repair of home textiles is very low. Around one in fourteen (7%) UK citizens say they have repaired the item they answered about, either themselves (4%) or through a paid service (2%).
- The combined overall longevity estimate for home textiles is 6.9 years, compared to 4.3 years for clothing.
- UK citizens report ownership of an average of 56.9 items of home textiles (across the items in the study). This includes 9.9 bathroom towels, 8.1 cushion covers, 7.2 pillows and 6.4 bedsheets.
- On average, 11.8 of these items have not been used in the past year. This represents just over a fifth (21%) of home textiles in a typical UK home. There are notable variations across individual items, with fabric tablecloths and duvet covers the items most likely to be owned but not used in the past year; and rugs, fabric curtains/blinds and cushion covers the least likely.
- The main reason these items are kept but not in use is a desire to keep it as a spare or backup item. This is followed by a perception that it is no longer as nice, either because it “doesn’t feel as nice” or “feels older” (potential product failure), as well as owning too many of this item. By contrast, a specific problem with the item (e.g. damage, stains, fading) is cited less frequently – indicating that non-use is driven less by product failure and more by perceptions.
What They Said:
Insights like these are useful for home textiles businesses like Hillarys as home textiles such as ours generally have a longer life than clothing. Understanding in more detail how they are used within homes will be really important for us as we think about how we can influence customer behaviour and how we can improve the circularity of our products as we creep towards the Textiles 2030 targets.
— Sam Cutler
Head of Environment and Sustainability
Hillarys Blinds
